Urinary incontinence affects over 13 million men and women of all ages in the United States. Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) affects primarily women and is generally caused by two conditions, intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD) and hypermobility. These conditions may occur independently or in combination. In ISD, the urinary sphincter valve, located within the urethra, fails to close properly (coapt), causing urine to leak out of the urethra during stressful activity. Hypermobility is a condition in which the pelvic floor is distended, weakened, or damaged, causing the bladder neck and proximal urethra to rotate and descend in response to increases in intra-abdominal pressure (e.g., due to sneezing, coughing, straining, etc.). The result is that there is an insufficient response time to promote urethral closure and, consequently, urine leakage and/or flow results.
These and related conditions are often treated using an implantable supportive sling. Such slings may be made from a variety of materials, but are often made from a cut sheet of mesh material. The mesh is typically knit in bulk and cut to both a suitable length and a suitable width, which is labor intensive. Additionally, cutting the slings to a suitable width can leave tanged jagged edges along the length of the sling. In some instances, such tangs may cause tissue irritation subsequent to or during sling placement. Further, the mesh sheets are prone to stretching, twisting and otherwise deforming during placement within the body of a patient.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved surgically implantable sling or sling-like support, which does not require being cut to particular widths, which may be easily formed without tanged or jagged edges, and which is less prone to undesirable deformation during implantation.